The Big Sandy girls’ basketball team wasn’t supposed to be at this stage. That has been normal since 2009, the last time the Lady Pioneers made it out of districts and even made a state tournament appearance. This season is different as Big Sandy made it out of districts and divisionals, playing 10 games in 12 days. Head coach Travis Baumann shared with New Media Broadcasters what it means to coach this resilient group of girls.
“It’s been 15 years of not making it out of districts,” Baumann said. “These girls are super pumped to be here and they have nothing to lose.”
“Being scared of anybody, you get Twin Bridges (in the first round) and they’re the No.2 ranked team in the state and they have two losses in the last two years, right?” Baumann continued. “Doesn’t really put a whole lot of fear into it because we probably realistically weren’t supposed to be here, so these girls are just coming out with fire.”
The Lady Pioneers will open up the MHSA State Class ‘C’ Tournament at the Four Seasons Arena, the same floor in which the team won its challenge game against Denton-Geyster-Stanford-Geraldine. Coach Baumann said that playing on the same floor will produce some types of advantages, but also said that there’s more of a factor that will play into who will ultimately prevail.
“Everybody else coming in (besides Roy-Winifred) hasn’t spent any time on that court,” Baumann said. “So for us, yeah, it gives us a little bit of an advantage as far as shooting goes.”
“In the long term, it’s about whoever comes to play,” Baumann continued. “Whoever suits them up is ready to get after it and who plays the best defense will ultimately bring home the prize.”
Listen to the Big Sandy-Twin Bridges basketball game on KPQX-92.5FM and HiLineToday.com on Thursday afternoon around 1:30pm with Noah Friedman calling the action from Great Falls.
